30 Colorado Experiment Station 
of soil. These samples represented six inches of this subsoil. 
Later we took a few samples from different sections to the depth 
of three inches and determined the moisture, the total nitrogen and 
the nitric nitrogen and Professor Sackett made bacterial counts in 
a few of them. Whether the depth of three inches was well chosen 
is a question, but this would depend largely upon the immediately 
preceding weather conditions. The samples were all taken on the 
same date and we considered them comparable. The results were 
as follows: 
MOISTURE, BACTERIA, ETC., IN SURFACE THREE INCHES OF SOIL. 
Total 
Nitric Nitrogen 
Section 
Moisture 
Nitrogen Parts per 
Bacterial 
Percent 
Percent 
Million 
Count 
Corn . 
. . . 7.880 
0.12444 
9.11 
Corn . 
. . . 8.859 
0.12988 
7.48 
Corn . 
. . . 7.102 
0.12716 
10.47 
Sorghum . 
. . . 7.206 
0.12444 
6.53 
Winter wheat . 
. . . 4.986 
0.11968 
2.58 
Winter rye . 
... 4.180 
0.12172 
2.72 
834,000 
Spring wheat check . 
. . . 4.825 
0.13328 
3.81 
1,440,000 
Spring wheat P..O- applied . . 
. . . 6.510 
0.14552 
3.67 
2,483,000 
Spring wheat KC1 applied . . 
... 5.614 
0.13872 
5.71 
Soil taken eight inches deep.. 
• • • 
1,560,000 
Subsoil 9 to 14 inches. 
.... 
476,000 
These samples were 
taken 20 
June, a 
time when 
O 
O 
O 
d 
0 
CD 
bacteria per gram may be taken as a fair average for an ordinary 
loamy soil. These soils are very much poorer in bacterial life 
than the average; this is true even in the case of the plot to which 
we had added phosphoric acid which seems to have favored their 
development very greatly. The subsoil is very much poorer than 
the entire sample given above—in fact, it contains practically only 
one-half as many bacteria which developed on the culture medium 
employed. It will be noticed that the soils of our spring wheat 
plots, while richer in total nitrogen, were decidedly poorer in 
nitric nitrogen than the corn and sorghum plots. 
We have not been able, up to this time, to pursue the study of 
the relation between the moisture, crop, nitrogen supply, etc., to 
any greater extent than is indicated by the statements given, which 
are not sufficient to justify any conclusions but they suffice for the 
purpose for which they are introduced, which is to show that the 
turning of five or six inches of subsoil to the surface and planting 
in this immediately after turning, gave us, in all respects, unusual 
conditions for which, if we only knew how, allowances should 
be made. 
This subject is not permanently dismissed for I am satisfied 
that this is one of the most important factors in our problem, and 
if strength and opportunity be granted me, J shall prosecute it 
